Saturday, November 26, 2016

The Reformation Project: Visiting Prestonwood Baptist Church

PLANO, Texas, November 3, 2013 -- The entryway and lobby area of the Prestonwood Baptist
Church feature wide hallways that have the distinct feel of an upscale shopping
mall. That is likely intentional, as the church was built during the hey day of the mall as a shopping destination, and megachurches have sought to create a comfortable feel for seekers, rather than a "churchy" one. Adding to that mall like feel is the presence near the sanctuary of a small
Christian bookstore, featuring paintings, various kinds of knick knacks, gift
cards, Bibles and books of a popular nature:
devotionals, books on various issues related to Christian living, and
those on dealing with family life. One
modest shelf was devoted to works by Senior Pastor Jack Graham. I also noted
titles by other area ministers: Robert
Jeffress, Matt Chandler, and James Robison. There was also a food area near the sanctuary.

The worship center featured a large stage with a small
podium at the front serving as a pulpit, and space for both a pop style band
and orchestra behind a railing. A large
choir space was behind it all, with a baptistery above everything. Two large video screens filled the space on
either side of the choir. Sophisticated
backlighting added additional ambiance.
For much of the musical portion of the service, the lighting consisted
of light shades of purple and green. It
changed to varieties of red and gold during the sermon, and blues at the end of
the service.

Pew racks contained copies of the ESV translation of
the Bible. As lyrics would be posted on
the video screens, there were no hymnals.

The service began with the baptism of two adults and
one child. No explanation of the meaning or significance of baptism was given,
though each candidate was asked if his baptism resulted from his having
“trusted Christ as personal Lord and Savior.
Applause followed each of the baptisms.

Music followed these baptisms, and a praise team
spread across the stage. At first, it
was difficult to know if the congregation was supposed to listen or sing along
with the praise team and choir (nobody in the audience seemed to be singing,
though the words were posted on the video boards. Eventually, the leader of the praise team
urged everyone to stand, clap, and join in.
We sang choruses words such as “I will bless the Lord at all times with
praise in my mouth” and “My soul loves Jesus.”
These words were repeated incessantly, along with others declaring our
commitment to praise Jesus, though very little about Him or why we were
praising him was included in the lyrics.
Another song assured us that God was “fighting for us” and mentioned
“resurrection power,” though it was not altogether clear what either the fight
or the power were about. A contemporary
rendition of “The Solid Rock” provided the first substantive content of the
service.

A brief prayer quoted a portion of Romans 1:16, and
that was followed by another chorus proclaiming that we are not ashamed of the
Gospel. Like the earlier choruses, the
song emphasized our commitment not to be ashamed without giving any indication
of the declarations explaining what the Gospel is in the remainder of that
verse.

Jack Graham then appeared on stage. Immaculately
coiffed and gravelly voiced, the 63 year old Graham explained that they had
been studying the Book of Acts under the theme “Ablaze.” Today’s talk was based around events in the
latter part of chapter 5 (he never really read the text in its entirety, though
he referred and summarized much of it over the course of the sermon), in which
Peter and John were arrested and then miraculously freed, whereupon they began
preaching again in the temple courtyard, much to the chagrin of the religious
authorities. The first portion of the sermon discussed the fact that Christians
continue to face persecution in various portions of the world. Graham said that in the United States that we
are fortunate not to face the kinds of physical persecution experienced by
Christians elsewhere, though we do face opposition. In the United States, people are not
threatening to kill Christians, though they will seek to shame us.

From there, Graham pivoted to discuss the apostle’s
continuing boldness to share Christ, and he used the remainder of his sermon to
urge (at points, the guilt was laid on pretty thickly) all of us to share the
gospel more boldly with others. Quoting
an anonymous source, he claimed that “the problem with the church today is that
no one wants to kill us any more – in America.” Some of us avoid persecution by
doing good deeds without talking about Jesus.
It is talking about Jesus that is the need of the day – and that will
likely get us in trouble with our culture.

Evangelism was emphasized as a human activity, and the
primary motivation was guilt.

Following an invitation to which some people appeared
to respond, the service concluded with a pray for an evangelism activity
promoted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. A large number of people had committed to
hosting events in their homes, and those people came forward for the prayer. An
offering concluded the service.

Prestonwood operates two satellite campuses. * While
sermons are sometimes delivered by Graham via simulcast, on this Sunday the
campus minister, Chris Kouba, preached.
The text, themes, and related scriptures were the same for the two sermons,
which were clearly coordinated, though the campus pastor clearly was permitted
to use his own material, as well.
Whereas Graham had emphasized persecution for insisting on the
uniqueness of Jesus for salvation (quoting Acts 4:13), the young campus
minister focused more on the troubles of Hobby Lobby’s owners over the
contraception mandate in Obamacare and issues related to gay marriage. He also urged the congregation to
evangelistic activity, arguing that “obedience to God leads to godly results.” Even more questionably, he told the
congregation of several hundred that “God is not able to show his supernatural
power unless I step out in faith and allow him to.” He did not appear to recognize that God in
fact would not be God in that scenario.

* The satellite location I visited has since closed,
with the property being sold to Gateway Church. They now only operate one satellite.